Hay gang, a bunch of us will be in Reno on January 26 and have decided to throw a party! (Who? Well, me, Ygmir, Triken, Mydearfriend just to name a few.) First things first: We have a train car reserved from Roseville, CA to Reno (leaves at 11:35 a.m. and arrives at 4:06 p.m.) which can hold 55 people. It is already better than half sold out to both burners and members of the Laguna Del Sol nudist resort in Wilton, CA. There is also another burner group on the same train, so don't be confused. We're offering all the beer, soda, and champagne you can drink, catered lunch, and room at the Sands Regency for $289/couple or $179/single. The other burner party must be having a fundraiser because they're charging $700/couple or $400/single for the exact same experience. When we arrive in Reno we want to have a party at the Sands. If you're in the Reno-Carson City-Tahoe region and just need a room, we will secure you one at our rate ($47.40 including all taxes) which is considerably cheaper than on the internet. If you want to party like a rock star on the train (we even have a pre-party planned at the Trocadero Bar in Roseville) PM me ASAP and I will secure you a spot. We have taken down the entire 15th floor of the Empress Tower so we can probably only accommodate a couple of hundred of you animals! See you all in January.

Last year Killbuck, Wh**sh, and Pinemom showed up, and I (like an idiot) missed the party altogether. Life sort of got in the way and by the time I came up for air, they had vanished. That won't happen this year! Yggy will have a suite across the hall from me and I promise not disappear into the ether. We will have complete access (for free!) to the 16 person hot tub, steam room, sauna, etc. Bathing suits have to stay on until, oh I don't know, 6 p.m.? Like Tinkermom mentioned, a BYOB pot luck would be the best way to insure we have enough libations for the duration. And if we end up completely trashing the suites, well, there are other hotels in Reno, right?

Oddly enough, we have two from Phoenix (Triken and Tinkermom) and one from D.C. (mydearfriend), but no one as of now from Marin. Why not drive to Roseville (it's only two lousy hours from Marin) and join us on the train? Pre-party begins at 9:30 at the Trocadero Bar. The drive is a lot quicker than any of their flights for sure. And cheaper.

The problem with that is getting from Roseville back to the Bay Area. Sure, you can jump on in Emeryville, but we bus it from Reno back to the Amtrak station in Roseville on Sunday afternoon. There's no train then from Roseville back to Emeryville to catch until Monday. The reason we do it that way is because the train (California Zephyr) leaves Chicago and a lot can go wrong between Chicago and Reno, especially in January. The one year we tried it---the first and last year we tried it---the train was over six hours late. Standing around the train platform in Reno waiting for a train that more likely than not will arrive extremely late (hay, it's ran by the federal government, what could possibly go wrong?) is a really bad idea. Now, if it were July and weather is not a problem, that's a different story altogether. But trust me on this one, expecting things to go right with the train out of Reno westbound is a fool's errand.

I would soooo love to join you band of hooligans!!!! Though, you're so far away!

Why don't ya stick your head in that hole and find out? ~pieholePlan for the worst, expect the best. Make the most out of it under any conditions. If you cannot do that you will never enjoy yourself. ~CrispyDave